Demon's Will
by Parahdoks
Summary: "You don't have to know where you're going, because the limits of this place are based on the limits of your imagination! You have all the time in the world to build a big home, find a girl, climb the largest of mountains - anything and everything you could ever imagine! Many times, the journey itself is the answer to your inner peace"
1. Estranged

Author's Note:

Hello, everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read this story. I'm going in a different direction with the story, and have written new notes on where I'd like it to go. If I've made any mistakes, or have gone in a direction that's not exactly worthy of being a FanFic for this wonderful anime, please do let me know. PM me, leave criticism in a review, or anything. I hope you all enjoy this story. Thank you so much for reading!

* * *

_Where am I? _

As his eyes struggled to open, he sees colorful blobs of light and the random shapes of passers-by. Vision returns, and he begins to sit up, placing his left hand on his head, feeling no pain, but the awkward and sluggish disorientation received from the first few moments of consciousness after an extended slumber. As his vision returns, he looks around. People walk past him, paying no mind, as if he were just a homeless man, sleeping on the concrete. He begins to regain control of his reality, slowly beginning to stand. People in regular, street clothing passing with their children and friends. He looks up at the night sky, greeting a crescent moon with his burgundy eyes, seeing few stars, as the light from the city seemed to have blocked their shine.

_Did I just pass out on the sidewalk? _

Sounds of vehicles are abundant, as traffic seems busy, and pedestrians walk past, taking no notice to him. He stops a random woman, tapping her on the shoulder.

Yuzuru: (in Japanese) **"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?"**

The random woman stops and looks at him. He's taken aback slightly, realizing that she is not Japanese, but of European origin, perhaps in her 40s with shoulder-length and straight hair. He felt slightly awkward as he had just spoken to her in Japanese, realizing that she likely did not understand him.

Woman: (feeling slightly guilty and giving a look of confusion, speaking in a British-accented English) **"Oh, I don't... Umm... I'm sorry, my dear, I can't quite understand you"**

Strangely, while being able to completely understand the woman, Yuzuru does his best to make a sentence in English, attempting to recall memories of his speaking skills.

Yuzuru: (Broken English) **"I am sorry... My English is not umm, not too well. I am umm, where I am"**

The woman expresses her empathy, smiling and trying her best to comprehend the question he was asking, understanding his wording, but feeling as though it was not literal.

Woman: **"Well, we're on the intersection of Brookside and Aura Avenue, if that's what you mean"**

_Brookside and Aura Avenue? Are we not in Japan? What strange names, if that's what she means by this particular intersection... _

Yuzuru: (Broken English) **"Oh, umm, I mean... Are we at Nihon?"**

Woman: **"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean"**

Yuzuru: **"Sorry, I mean umm, Nihon, umm... Japan?"**

As if a light bulb managed to click on in the woman's head, she responds happily.

Woman: (Giggling) **"Oh, that's what you mean! Well, I'm afraid I can't say we're necessarily in Japan! However, you can say we're everywhere and nowhere"**

Suddenly feeling lost again, Yuzuru smiles and rubs the back of his neck innocently, unable to comprehend such a metaphor.

Yuzuru: (Smiling innocently) **"I don't umm, are we not umm, American city?"**

The British woman puts her hand over her mouth as she giggles more, this time slightly apologetically.

Woman: **"I'm afraid we're not on any Earthly continent, my dear"**

Yuzuru's smile is suddenly wiped from his face, understanding the literal statement of what he had heard.

Woman: **"We're all dead. We're not on Earth anymore. This is the afterlife"**

Yuzuru stands in shock, his eyes pin-pointed and his mouth slightly open, and feeling his heart race. The woman looks at a clock on a building close-by, and turns, preparing to walk away.

Woman: **"I'm sorry to break the news to you, but the shock will wear away soon! Many of us have had the same feeling as you, I'm afraid. ****I must leave for now! I'm sorry to cut this short, my dear. Good luck!"**

She waves as she walks away. Yuzuru stands there, amidst busy, pedestrian traffic, in heavy denial, giving the infamous thousand-yard stare.

_No... No... This can't be it! Wait..._

He looks up at the same clock the woman had just glanced at before parting.

_**00:35 AM**... Wait... I don't understand. _

Frantically, Yuzuru grabs another pedestrian by the arm, almost frantically.

Yuzuru: (Japanese-accented English) **"Which city are we?!" **

The man, feeling almost threatened at first, gives an angry glance. The man's temper quickly quelled after coming to the realization that the young, Japanese man was in clear disbelief. The Caucasian man expressed a look of sorrow, quickly realizing the Yuzuru's situation, able to understand his frantic and broken English.

Man: (American accent) **"You must not have been here long... Sorry to say it, but you're in the afterlife now"** (Attempting to rush) **"Sorry, I wish I could help right now, but I gotta go!" **

The man walks off, Yuzuru does the same with another person, followed by another, all repeating the same to him. He drops to his knees. Pedestrians walk past him, paying little to no attention to him.

_This can't be... Something isn't right! I'm breathing! I'm obviously conscious! I can touch and feel! I can see! How can I be dead?!_

Yuzuru looks around at the busy people; different races: White, Black, Asian, Latino, Arabic and everyone else in-between, all wearing clothing ranging from casual Western, formal suits, to traditional Chinese, and even traditional, African attire.

_I don't understand... Midnight, heavy traffic, and all these people... I've never seen anything like this before! This can't be! I must be in New York or something, and I'm being pranked! _

As Yuzuru begins to take a stroll, overloaded with worry. A small and dainty hand, waving a bunch of colorful flyers peers over the crowd, cuffed in blue and sleeved white. Her voice calls out in Japanese to the pedestrians, who seem to just walk by, paying no mind to her.

**_"Looking for new recruits! Join us in our next meeting! Want to help us figure out the meaning to this life? Join us in the Afterlife War Front!" _**

A pink pigtail and red hair tie pop up from the crowd. Yuzuru takes notice, taking in a sense of familiarity with the voice and that pink hair. As the crowd begins to clear, he moves his head, attempting to get a direct look at the girl.

_Wait, she's speaking Japanese! Maybe she can help! But what is she talking about? Is she promoting some kind of gang or militia, or... something? _

As he looks from the side, taking a step off of the sidewalk, he gets a direct view of her. Her legs dressed in black ribbons leading to her knees, a pair of garters on her thighs, and a school uniform - blue skirt and white blouse, with a pink ascot, and a strange devil tail coming from her rear. A feeling of strange familiarity sweeps through Yuzuru's mind once more, and is filled with strange de-ja-vu. The crowd thickens once more, and he loses sight of her.

_Why do I feel like I know this girl? _

Yuzuru watches her for a short moment through the crowd of people. She shouts and waves flyers with a familiar symbol, a crest of sorts, also appears to have been sewn onto the left shoulder sleeve of her blouse; a shield with three diagonal S's placed within it, and a scroll along the bottom reading, _'rebels against the god'_. He thinks for a moment, but is unable to put his finger on it. As he is about to approach her, he stops himself, deciding to turn and walk away.

_No... Wait... Afterlife? She's got those hair-ties that look like devil horns... That tail? What if she's some kind of devil worshiper? ... No, I'll just figure this out on my own. Afterlife War Front sounds like something way too dangerous for me to mess with. _

As she continues to shout for attention for her cause, something calms her, as though she had the feeling of being watched, and she looks in the direction of where Yuzuru stood, catching a strange, but familiar glimpse for only a split-second. She stops waving flyers, feeling as though she had just suddenly seen a ghost, as her near-maniacal smiling turned into a blank stare of unsure familiarity. Her hands drape to her side, while still holding the flyers, feeling a sudden sense of strange happiness and despair.

She suddenly drops her flyers, frantically attempting to navigate from the epicenter of busy pedestrians.

Yui: (Whispering to herself) **"Wait, no way... It can't be him, can it?"**

As she reaches the side of the crowd where fewer people walked, she looks in the direction where she thought he made his way, but was unable to locate him. She gives up in the moment, but with more skepticism building through intuition.

Yui: (Whispering to herself) **"There's no doubt about it. It has to be him... But if he saw me, he had to of remembered me..."**

Turning around, she sees the stack of Class SSS flyers being trampled on. She snaps back to reality, and then yells loudly in shock. Yui frantically dives back into the crowd, attempting to recover each of the flyers she dropped.

Yui: (Shouting, attempting to collect her papers) **"Hey! Stop! I need these!"**

She dodges footsteps left and right, collecting her papers on all fours, yelling out, with few people even paying any mind to her.

Yui: **"Can't you people see I'm down here?!"**

* * *

_**01:32 AM** \- Class SSS HQ_

The stern voice of a girl calls out from a room: _'Briefing Room'_.

**"We need to figure out what these anomalies are"**

From inside the large office room, a girl sat at a desk, slumped in her office chair, her legs propped atop a wooden desk that was centered and towards the front of the room, with a large, flat-screen monitor placed on the wall behind her. A green bow resting on her breast-length magenta hair, sea-green eyes. Wearing a white blouse with blue collar and cuffs, a Class SSS crest sewn into the left shoulder sleeve, blue pleated skirt, and her legs covered up to her thighs with black stockings, her school-like uniform shoes rested upon the top of the desk. As she briefed, she twiddled with her white beret, tossing it in the air, before finally allowing it to fall upon the desk.

Yuri: **"We've only recently discovered these strange readings around the world"**

She points over to a short boy with a light, yellow-brown bowl cut, sitting on a couch near the center of the room, his glasses reflecting light from his own laptop, blocking his eyes from anyone else's view, and wearing a light-brown blazer and black slacks, also bearing the same Class SSS patch on his left shoulder.

Yuri: **"Takeyama, are there anymore readings regarding these anomalies?"**

Takeyama: (Pushing up glasses) **"Observatories A4, F2, and T7 have come up with the strange readings. A4 is about three-thousand kilometers west of F2, and F2 is about five-thousand kilometers west. Each are in a row, and the anomalies have each shown that their paths seem to be on a direct course to this exact city" **(Showing now obvious frustration)** "Also, for the millionth time, I'd appreciate if you called me Christ!" **

From the couch opposite to Takeyama's sat a male, short, but same height as Takeyama, black hair, sporting a black and long-sleeved uniform, sporting a black Mao cap on his head, the brim lining up with his eyes to give a more intimidating appearance. He crosses his arms.

Naoi: **"Have these readings given any sort of sign that they're even going for us?"**

Yuri: **"Didn't I just say that that we don't understand what they are yet?"**

Naoi: **"I heard you the first time! Let's be real here... We're the only degenerates in this world who thinks every blade of grass that rubs against the sensors on those useless observatories means that something is coming for us! Everyone else seems to be living a nice afterlife, but we seem to be always on alert for threats that don't seem to exist. Why must be remain so paranoid"**

Hinata: **"Hey, just a minute, who are you calling degenerates?! It's in our nature to be watchful!"**

Hinata calls out from the wall one the right side of the room, pointing at Naoi. His blue hair waves back from him almost lunging towards Naoi in response to his insulting comment.

Naoi: **"We're all delusional! How can we have been here for three years, and not a single fight has broken out! We have all these guns, technology, and may as well have an army, and for what reason? We could be enjoying the time of our lives, and yet we're here looking for Casper the friendly anomaly?! We're all fools!"**

Hinata pulls a self-developed (Polaroid) picture from his tan blazer, showing it to the rest of the room: A picture of Naoi attempting to fire a shotgun and falling back embarrassingly.

Hinata: (Evil smile) **"You sure didn't seem like you were pretending to train for any threats with me when you tried hip-firing a shotgun, and fell on your ass!" **

Naoi: **"You jerk! That was supposed to be between us! You were the one who told me to try using it that way! I could have killed myself!"**

Hinata: (Laughs) **"Oh, please! Spare me the tears! Consider it a learning experience, you!" **(Grinning) **"It's not like I was the one who was trying to show off to a certain blonde and emotionless girl with pigtails"**

Naoi: (Shocked and in anger) **"WHAT?! Th-That's not true! I was just trying to LEARN how to do something YOU told me I asked IN CONFIDENCE, you jerk!"**

Hinata seemingly gets the last laugh, as Naoi jumps the rear of the couch, attempting to grab the Polaroid image, as Hinata's much taller stature dwarfed over Naoi, holding the photo above him, just out of his reach.

Hinata: **"Who's the degenerate now?!"**

Naoi stops for a moment, looking dead into Hinata's eyes, calming down.

Naoi: (Smiles, stops trying to grab the picture) **"You know what? You win. You know what else?** (Voice becoming deeper) **"Enjoy the picture as much as you want, Hinata. The picture is definitely beautiful isn't it?"** (Eyes glowing red) **"Doesn't it make you want to just eat it? It is definitely nice enough to eat, isn't it? Almost like a beautiful, tasty, strawberry and vanilla cake. I'll bet you're pretty hungry after all of that time holding up that cake, huh? I'll bet you want to eat it, don't you?" **

Hinata gives a look of worry, looking up at the picture he was holding over his own head, somewhat becoming manic in his gaze into it, as his eyes widen.

Hinata: (Manic) **"Oh no! You're absolutely right! How could I not see it before?! It's almost like I'm lifting up a slice of cake! And I'm so hungry!"**

Hinata suddenly brings the photo down to his face and opens his mouth wide, scarfing down the image in one foul swoop.

Yuri: (Almost ignoring the banter between Naoi and Hinata) **" Takeyama, I need you to continue monitoring their activity. If it's passed A4, F2, and T7, it's probably going to end up passing observatories Y1 or X9 in a few hours, if it's traveling at that same speed. Try to get a good focus on them by getting some infrared or thermal footage of them. I'm curious as to what they may be"** (Speaking to herself) **"I'm hoping they're not what I think they are..."**

Yuri's memories flash back to a moment in the Afterlife School, where they were fighting against the NPC-turned shadow beings.

Naoi: **"Foreshadowing much over there?"**

The door opens from in front of the room. Yui walks into the door, her hair messed up and her uniform a mess, with shoe-prints and dust covering most of her clothing. She gives a sigh of relief, finally home from a long day. She drops all of the Class SSS flyers and plops herself onto the couch where Naoi sat a few moments prior. Without looking, she takes notice to Hinata enjoying a Polaroid image meal.

Yui: (Giving little to no care; talking quietly to herself in regards to Hinata's current actions) **"Moron"**

Yuri raises an eyebrow at Yui, almost slightly concerned for her appearance and lack of enthusiasm.

Yuri: **"What's up with you?"**

Naoi: **"Yeah, you look like hell"**

Yui: **"This job sucks! I dropped some flyers and went to try to pick them up in a busy crowd"** (Shuttering, remembering the horrors of being recently trampled by a busy crowd) **"I tried to yell at them to stop, but they just... They just kept on going..."**

Takeyama: (Sarcastic) **"Your services are appreciated"**

Yui looks up at Yuri, giving a more serious look.

Yui: **"I saw someone though"**

Everyone let's out a collective, **"Huh?"**

Yuri: (Sarcastic) **"What, you almost saw Iwasawa naked again?"**

Yui: (Angrily blushing) **"I told you, that was not my intention! Just because she's my hero, doesn't mean I'm attracted to her like that!"**

Yuri: (Almost interested) **"What did you see then?"**

Yui's face becomes serious once more.

Yui: **"I don't know how many people we know that are somewhat tall and have red-orange hair, but..."**

Yuri gasps. Everyone in the room stops what they're doing. Yuri suddenly removes her feet from atop the desk and stands from her seat, smacking her palms on the desk, putting the full frontal weight of her body over the surface. Takeyama nearly drops his laptop, his mouth open in disbelief. Hinata spits out the photo and quickly stands to his feet, free of Naoi's hypnotism almost immediately. All are silent for a moment.

Yuri: (Serious and yelling) **"Are you telling me that he's here?!"**

Yui: **"I swear, I saw him with my very own eyes!"** (Questioning herself, puts index finger over her lower lip and looks up, contemplating whether her memory deceives her) **"At least, I'm pretty sure that it was him..."**

Yuri: (Commanding voice) **"Hinata!"**

Hinata looks at Yuri.

Hinata: (Serious) **"What is it?"**

Yuri: **"I need you to wake up Noda, Matsushita the Fifth, Fujimaki, and Takematsu. I have a mission for you five"**

Hinata quickly obeys Yuri's orders, quickly making a move for the door.

Hinata: **"I'm on it!" **

He exits the room quickly

Yuri: (Looks at Yui) **"Are you absolutely certain you saw him?"**

Yui: **"I..."** (Feeling less confident) **"I... I couldn't tell for sure. I... It was just a moment, but it was out the corner of my eyes! It was like he was watching me, and then just walked away!"**

Yuri thought to herself for a moment.

_He had to of known it was Yui, if it really is him... Why would he just look at her and then leave?_

Yuri sits back down. The whole room remains silent. Naoi looks at Yuri, almost sorrowfully.

Naoi: **"If it really is him... I mean... It's been three years. When we all left that other place, we all ended up here. Why didn't he follow-suit?"**

Yuri: (Crossing her arms) **"That's something I've stopped trying to figure out months ago. This afterlife seems to further the idea that reincarnation isn't real, but..."** (Thinking for a moment) **"That doesn't make any sense. We all left the school almost at the same time... Everyone else was here... Except him"**

Naoi: **"Tachibana was the last person to come through"**

Yuri: **"I've already talked to her about that. She doesn't know what happened either..."**

_Even though I know that's definitely not the truth... How can I, or even Kanade even face the others? They wouldn't trust her anymore... They'd shun her for the rest of eternity... Kanade would be left alone in this world with no one, just like she was left alone every time she made a friend in the previous world..._

* * *

*Yuri's perspective*

_Kanade told me everything... She told me that after Naoi, myself, and then Hinata left, they were the only two left. She told me that Otonashi had requested to take a walk outside with her. They talked for a short time. Otonashi so foolishly mentioned that he wanted to stay with her forever in that world... He loved her, after losing so much already in his previous life. He admitted to her that he loved her so much. She never told me whether she felt the same way, but... I bet she felt it, too. The entire time we've been in this other world together, she's changed. I've not seen her smile since we first saw her here, even after being freed of any burdens that anyone else would believe she carried previously, since we were all able to pass on... But since we've been in this world, she's become far less curious, less caring, and closed off from everyone else. Fewer times than I could count on my hands has she even sat with us to eat...  
_

_I'll bet she feels selfish about what she feels she did to Otonashi... It's funny. Someone who's so selfless took her opportunity to pass on, despite possibly feeling the same love for him as he did for her. She took the opportunity to leave, after feeling all of this loneliness for all of the years she'd been in that other world. That very loneliness she previously felt was the reason she'd smiled few times over there, why she was so bent on academic perfection, and why she fought so hard against us when we were enemies... _

_Even though we've all made our peace with one another a long time ago, part of me really wants to hate her. I want to hate her for how selfish she was. How she was the one who helped so many pass on, but couldn't help one last person - Yuzuru Otonashi... But... If Otonashi passed on before her, could she have been able to go forth? Is that why she left first, even at the risk of trapping him in that world? Is she really selfish? Was she just fed up with being lonely herself? We all have our crosses to bear... All she wanted to do was tell him 'thank you'... The whole purpose of her existence there, was to just give appreciation to him, for giving her the gift of life..._

* * *

_**08:30**_** AM**

A soft clap from the base of a hard-paper cup that was filled with coffee had softly hit against a green table-top. Yuzuru woke up, raising his head from his arms, as he rested, seated at a table of a cafe. He looked up at a tall, young man, one of the cafe baristas, who was wearing a white apron and black shirt and slacks, had long, brown hair that went to his shoulders. After placing the medium-sized, hot cup of coffee on the table for Yuzuru, he smiled and sat down across from him, still holding his silver serving tray.

Barista Ben: (Speaking Japanese) **"Rough night, I take it? Here's some coffee. It's on the house"**

Yuzuru is immediately taken aback at the fact the man spoke Japanese.

Yuzuru: (Amazed, speaking Japanese) **"Oh, finally! Someone I can speak to!"**

Barista Ben: (Laughing) **"Yeah, well, there's a lot of people in this world. Most of em speak English, even if it's a second or third language for them. In comparison, few of us actually speak in Japanese, but that's alright. I take it you're fairly new here, huh?"**

Yuzuru: **"Yeah, I guess so... I still feel like you people here are still trying to prank me with this whole afterlife crap"**

Barista Ben: **"Well, I'm probably not the first to tell you that this is the real deal, but it's definitely true. I can tell you that, because I've been here in Necropolis for almost a century"**

Yuzuru: **"Necropolis? As in a city with a crap ton of graves and dead people?"**

Barista Ben: **"That's what they call this city we're in anyways. Has a nice ring to it!"**

Yuzuru tries giving a halfhearted smile to the seemingly implied joke.

Barista Ben: **"Other than that, outside of the city, we have rural areas and such, more big cities, some smaller cities, and a lot of suburban areas where blood relatives might gather and form clans that make up entire neighborhoods. Sounds pretty feudal, but it's actually pretty cool how they do that. Though finding family here is fairly difficult, because of how massive this world is. One kid explained to me that it reminded him of some kind of game you kids played in the mortal world... War of the Craft World, I think it was?**** Or something crazy like that. I don't know, I'm one-hundred and some years old, so I died around the time when motorized transportation came about. Anyways, you may have to travel out pretty far to find some nice patch of land to settle for the rest of eternity, but it's quite nice not having to worry about no apocalypse, crime, or anything of that sort. Other than all of that, how are you holding up?" **

Yuzuru: **"Well, I have no memories of anything. I can remember my name, I think, but nothing else really..."**

Barista Ben: (Puts index finger and thumb over chin, thinking) **"Hmm... I've seen thousands upon thousands of people come through my shop as a first destination, coincidentally. Not a single one had any sort of amnesia, at least from what I have understood. They'd just come here, see my shop, and just talk. Even folks with Alzheimer's in their previous life remembered most things in their life" **

Yuzuru: **"Hmm..."** (Thinks for a moment, looking around) **"You're the owner of this shop?"**

Barista Ben: **"You betcha! I've had ****this shop for 82 years! Took a visit to America when I was alive. Coffee was on the rage over there, and I fell in love with it! When I died and got here, there were plenty of shops that served nice, hot tea, but there weren't many coffee joints around , so before this area became pretty popular, I went for the permits to own the shop, and here I am now!"** (Laughing) **"We've had all kinds of people come through; people who lived poor lives, the rich, famous, and everyone in-between! I wouldn't have considered myself very lucky in my mortal years, but since coming here, I've made the most of my afterlife"** (Looks up proudly) **"This place has become my legacy, and I don't ever plan on retiring!"**

Yuzuru looked at him, thinking.

Yuzuru: **"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think I properly introduced myself. I'm Otonashi"**

Yuzuru places his hand in front of him, hoping to shake the owner's hand. He accepts and they shake hands.

Barista Ben: **"I'm Benjiro"** (let's go of Yuzuru's hand) **"Most people call me Barista Ben, or just Ben I guess"**

Yuzuru: **"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Ben"**

Ben nods his head and smiles. Yuzuru grabs his cup of coffee and begins blowing on it to cool it off.

Yuzuru: **"I know I'm beating at a dead horse, but how do I really know you're telling the truth? How do I know we're actually in... Well... You know... The afterlife?"**

Ben gives a lighthearted chuckle as Yuzuru takes a small sip of his coffee, careful not to burn his mouth. He turns around and points past the cash register and counter, near a group of brewing and espresso machines. A collage of photos are framed on a brown-painted wall, some photos were in black and white, few in sepia, and most in color; most photos also bearing an autograph. Yuzuru's eyes grow, fixated on the many photos, each with Ben standing next to a famous individual, all long deceased in the mortal world, and most of the pictures crammed with people.

Yuzuru: (In disbelief) **"I don't believe it..."** (Points to a signed, colored image of Ben and an older man in a suit, appearing to have been taken recently) **"That's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi! He died years ago!"** (Points to another signed, black and white photo) **"That's former American President John Kennedy! What?! I don't believe it!"**

_How the hell am I able to remember these people, but I don't even have memories of my own?!_

Barista Ben: **"It's been a long road. Like I said, this place has seen many interesting people. I take pride in this cafe, helping anyone, regardless of how poor or rich. Life gives us all valuable experience. We're all here to enjoy ourselves, because we've earned it through the rite of passage called life and death, my friend"**

Yuzuru: **"I don't mean to be rude, but why do so many people come through here? How did you get the opportunity to meet all of these people?!"**

Barista Ben: (Reassuring Yuzuru was not being rude) **"Well, to be honest, I've asked myself that question quite a few times. The only answer I could come up with, is that my coffee is just that damn good!"** (Laughs heartily)

Yuzuru is in a mental state of shock, thinking to himself, realizing that perhaps he really is in the afterlife now.

_I don't believe it... I really am dead! I'm actually in the afterlife... I... I can't be dead... How can I be dead when I can't even remember when I did before I died?!_

Yuzuru: (Confused) **"I don't know what to say... I'm actually dead?" **

Barista Ben: **"Well, to put things into perspective, it ain't the first time I've had a visitor come here confused and in denial"** (Chuckles) **"Why do you think I put all of those pictures of me and those dead old kooks up? I care about my shop's reputation, but I want people to understand that they now have only one aim, and that's to finally rest, which is why I put those pictures up, to provide proof that we're immortal now"** (Pauses)** "I will say though, at least you're not one of those new guys who go into a frenzy when they find out they're dead"**

Yuzuru: (Taking everything in, trying to process his thoughts) **"Right... I can see why they'd go pretty berserk..."**

Barista Ben: **"This world is pretty damn big. There are a few routes that go between Necropolis and the rural areas, up to thousands of kilometers outside of Necropolis city limits, as well as to other cities that a lot of people tend to go out to, to settle down and enjoy themselves. Those long, motorized carriages that carry a good amount of people-"** (Thinks for a moment) **"I think they're called busses? Well whatever they are, they travel in and out of the city, and to other places, free of any charge"** (Smiles)

Yuzuru: **"That's... Actually pretty amazing. But why do people have jobs here? I mean, the bus drivers, you, and all these shops all over this city? What's the point if this world is meant for us to rest in peace?"**

Barista Ben: **"Well, although the idea of the afterlife is to find peace. Many find their peace with owning shops. You'd be surprised at the kinds of places people open up when you have an eternity to just experiment with passion and happiness! Money does exist here, but mostly because living in such a densely-populated city, such as Necropolis needs to be able to have currency, since living her is so sought after. As for those drivers who drive those bus things, they may find peace in assisting others in their journey through this place"** (Pauses, smiling) **"Personally, I find a lot of joy in helping others while serving a hot cup of Joe! I've met so many thousands of people, and never do I grow tired of meeting more!"**

Yuzuru: **"So, I guess there is a lot of peace made through working then"**

Barista Ben:** "You don't have to know where you're going, because the limits of this place are based on the limits your imagination! You have all the time in the world to build a big home, find a girl, climb the largest of mountains - anything and everything you could ever imagine! Many times, the journey itself is the answer to your inner peace"**

Ben looks down for a moment at his tray and smiles. He looks up at Otonashi, who was smiling at such a positive thought.

Barista Ben: (Standing up) **"Well, it's eight thirty-five now"** (Walks towards the counter) **"I gotta get back to work before more people come in. We usually get a lot of customers after about nine clock. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you need to. I understand that this ain't something easy to just take in, being dead and all. Take your time"**

Yuzuru: **"One last question though..."**

Ben stops and gives Yuzuru his attention.

Yuzuru: **"Are there bad people here? You know, like criminal gangs, or anything like that?"**

Barista Ben: **"Usually, when people die, they're released from the mental state that were caused by stresses in life. Even gangsters, thieves, and all those types of bad people have their reasons, not that anyone would justify them. This world caters to a lot of the people who were problematic in mortal society, and gives them a place, to show their life was meaningful, even if it wasn't moral. There simply is just no reason to be bad here. Even the people I've met who were pretty coo-coo in life are usually released from their struggles upon death, so generally you don't run into a lot of the bad guys here. If they do exist, then I sure as hell haven't seen any here" **

Yuzuru: (Thinking for a moment) **"I came across this girl earlier, and she had like this strange, devil-looking schoolgirl getup. I don't know how to really explain it. She was handing out flyers for this _Afterlife War Front_. She seemed almost familiar"**

Barista Ben: (Laughing) **"Ah, you mean those kids! They're pretty famous around these parts... I wouldn't say in a great way. They're more notorious, but in a sort of adorable way. They aren't inherently bad, but they're one of the few exceptions most people make in terms of the whole 'coo-coo' thing. They seem pretty mischievous at first. Other than that, I see them pretty regularly. They're a bunch of nice folks. You don't look the type that'd join them, but what do I know?"** (Chuckles) **"I will say though, they tip nicely, and that's always great for business, so I like 'em! I think they also have their own place in the city somewhere. I don't know how they are able to afford it, but more power to them, I guess!" **

Ben starts setting up cups from in front of the counter to prepare for the morning rush.

Barista Ben: **"And as far as that little devil-girl is concerned, I believe her name is Yui. I see her more often than I'd like if we're being honest. If you manage to meet her though, I'd probably tell her to lay off the caffeine. She's got more energy than a powdered keg"** (Walks behind the counter to work on coffee machines) **"Perhaps the reason your mind pointed out that girl was because of your intuition. With all the time we have, it's probably worth researching the curiosity!" **

Yuzuru thinks to himself for a moment. He goes back to his table to try enjoying his coffee, thinking to himself.

_If I'm really dead, what are my own limitations of this world? Should I talk to these people? I mean, what if they're just some rag-tag group of degenerates and outcasts? _


	2. Rough Landing

_**10:30 AM**_

**"I GOT EM!"**

A voice yells out from one of the alleyways within the large city of Necropolis. Four other boys suddenly run to the yelling. A purple-haired boy, wearing the typical, light-brown Class SSS blazer is holding a boy on the ground, putting a bag over his entire head and torso area, attempting to keep him from struggling. And a long and shiny halberd pole-arm laid on the ground next to him.

Hinata: (Calling out to his friends) **"Guys! I think Noda got him!"**

Hinata and three other boys run to the purple-haired boy named Noda. Each of them wearing the same uniforms as one another. One, a skinnier boy - Takamatsu, with dark-blue hair, pushing up his glasses as he ran; another boy - Matsushita the Fifth, with brown hair, a larger-framed and muscular individual, eyes hidden and seemingly closed, also matching the others' clothing, except for his footwear - sporting a pair of wooden getas, tapping the ground loudly as he ran; the last individual - Fujimaki, holding a shirasaya sword remaining sheathed, black hair, eyes halfway open, seemingly angry, with the look of determination.

Each of the boys stop in an alleyway at Noda, who held the weight of his body over the young man he had tackled and bagged from the torso up with a burlap sack.

Fujimaki: **"You got 'em, Noda!"**

Noda: **"Yeah!"** (Raising a fist up in excitement) **"I can't wait to bring him back to HQ and catch up on the massive shit-beating I've missed out on for the past three years!"**

Takamatsu: (Raising glasses) **"I don't think that's something you should be saying so casually"**

**"WHAT?!"**, the boy in the bag replies in a voice unfamiliar to the boys. Giving a look of sudden skepticism, Hinata looks down at the bagged boy, who sits up on his rear-end, escaping Noda's grasp, kicking the ground, and backing himself against the wall, still having the bag over his head and torso.

Hinata: (Skeptical) **"Wait a minute... Are you sure this is him?"**

Hinata kneels down and pulls the burlap sack off of the boy, revealing a red-haired boy, noticeable much younger than Otonashi, and much shorter, crying in fear of his life.

**"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I DON'T WANNA DIE AGAIN!"** the young boy cried.

Hinata: (Stands up, yelling at Noda) **"You dumbass, that's not Otonashi!"**

Noda: (Stands up, yelling back) **"Well, coulda fooled me!"**

Fujimaki: **"Anyone can fool you. You're so brainless, that you actually believed me when I said that Bluetooth was a mouth disease"**

Takamatsu: (Pushing up glasses, calm voice) **"This is the fifth time we've bagged someone, and it wasn't him"**

Matsushita5: **"Why not just stop and talk to someone if you might think it's him?"**

Hinata: (Throws burlap sack on the ground) **"Why do you even have this crap?!"**

Noda: (Yelling) **"Why the hell not?!"**

Hinata: **"You idiot! You can't just bag some innocent kid like that! That's kidnapping!"**

Noda: **"This world sucks! I wanna go back to the other place and fight Angel again!"**

Fujimaki: **"You're so brainless, that every time you've had a close encounter with Angel, you thought you actually contributed to the fight, when you were always the first to die"**

* * *

Yuzuru, standing in the doorway of the cafe, waved back to Ben, thanking him, and walks off into the now-less crowded sidewalk. Traffic around is less busy, making the city less painful to listen to. As he walked, he thought to himself. While the disbelief and feeling of denial seemed to have calmed down for him, it was not a matter of where he was, or how he got there, but to take in the endless possibilities this new world would offer him.

_Well, I'm here now. No point in fighting it. Nothing I can do about it. I guess I'll just have to make the best of it. _

Yuzuru looks up at a clock on a high-rise, reading 10:39 AM. He suddenly changed directions to go left.

_Wait, I think I'm supposed to go this way? _

He crosses the street, placing his hands in his pockets as he strolled along, passing many stores and parked vehicles along the way. Foot traffic began to grow slightly, but far from impossible to navigate through. He looks down at his shoes as he walked, making his intuition-driven trek aimless. Looking from the corner of his left, he passes a girl, who was leaning against a wall, looking down, humming an almost familiar tune. He pays little mind to her, noticing only long white hair, covering much of her facial features from his own view, in disposition to her and her shorter height. She pulls out a phone and checks on it.

_Wait..._

Otonashi stops dead in his tracks. Small flashes of memories fill Yuzuru's mind, but just enough not to completely revive the memories he had lost. His eyes widen as the small glimpses of his memories play in his mind, like ruined film, and voices heard in his head all resonate with an acoustic echo.

****Memory sequence****

In a school infirmary, Yuzuru sits, facing a hospital bed, with an almost familiar individual lying within the covers, listening to him.

**_"Just before I died, I signed myself up as an organ donor. It should've saved someone's life,"_**His voice echoed in his own head. _**"I could've given something of myself... That's what I believe anyways"** _

_A hand suddenly reaches and touches his face softly. Yuzuru looks up, his memory still bleak, only seeing the lower half of her face, while her eyes were faded out of tunnel vision range. _Yuzuru hears her voice in his flashback; his heart races, _**"I'm sure this stranger you saved will say thank you all her life... She must appreciate you"** _

The scenery within his mind changes.

Her voice rang into his head once more_, a memory of a girl embracing him, holding her hand over his chest, over his heart, **"I came here to tell you... Thank you for all that you've done for me"** _

_Yuzuru replies with lacking certainty, **"Wh-What do you mean..." **_

_**"My life was extended because of the beautiful, kind heart you gave me**," the soft voice echoes within Yuzuru's head. Yuzuru's expression within the memory sequence becomes one of shock and awe, and he continued to hear her voice,** "...Even now, your heart is beating here,**" a pair of small hands covers the breast portion of her tan blazer, signifying the gift of life he had given the girl. **"I feel it beating right here in my chest..."**. _Her eyes covered by the fog within his memories maddened Yuzuru, as he began to seemingly feel demanding of his memories to see her face for even just a moment. **_"...My only regret is that I was unable to thank the person who gave me my youth"_**_, she spoke softly as her voice began to falter. **"I wanted to express my gratitude"**, she stops and turns to Yuzuru. **"That was my feeling... The lingering feeling that made me wander into this world" **_

Yuzuru's pupils began to shrink as his eyes increasingly grew as the melancholy feeling the memories had began to induce fueled his despair, while her voice continued to instill inner peace. His emotions began to split into two, as the feeling of peace through inner selflessness, and despair through loneliness, began to conflict.

_As the memory sequence began to end in his mind, he sees an image - a girl, seemingly begging to him with her golden eyes and melancholy smile, to allow her to be free, as the burdens that have chained her for so long exist no longer to keep her in bondage to this world. Yuzuru begins to weep, unaccepting of an inevitable loss of love would destroy the very foundation of his spirit, **"...Let me believe that-... That life is worth living"**. _

Memory sequence changes once more.

_**"Where are you going?"** a voice calls a soft and calm voice calls out as the tail of Yuzuru's tan blazer had been held as he attempted to leave the classroom, **"The test is about to begin"** _

_Yuzuru turns and sees the girl once more. She lets go of the tail of his blazer and he replies with an excuse he could only come up with at such a moment's notice, **"Uh-Well-I-I'm getting nervous, so-"** He stops and stares into her eyes. Her emotionless face seemed to penetrate his concentration, unable to continue his facade. _

**_"Are you that nervous?"_**_ she asks almost concerned. _

**_"N-No not really,"_**_ he responds quickly _

**_"Relax, it will be okay, uh..."_**_, she stops herself, thinking for a moment, attempting to think of his name. _

**_"Oh, I-I'm__ Otonashi,"_**_ he says hesitantly, **"Actually... I don't know your name either. What is it?"** he asks innocently, seemingly calmed by her angelic voice and appearance. _

**_"Who me? I'm Tachibana", _**

**_"First__ name?," _**_he asks again innocently. _

**_"My first__ name?..." _**In the moment of the sequence of images and voices of his own and the unknown girl, he begs his mind to give him the name of the girl. As though the name began to ring in his head, he couldn't understand the reply. It rang in his mind multiple times, clear and concise, but seemingly unable to muster the energy to repeat the name for him to understand, though it echoed in his head continuously, **_"It's K4#ad3"_** \- repeating in his head over and over, as though the voice spoke to him; clear and concise, and yet incomprehensible, until -

****End memory sequence****

Yuzuru stood, motionless, freed from a moment of an eternal paralysis, his eyes widened and his trembled body calming. He says the name to himself.

Yuzuru: (Whispering to himself) **"Kanade..."**

Quickly realizing the given opportunity, Yuzuru turns to see the girl with white hair pushing lightly off of the wall as she put her phone away into her pocket. She begins to walk off. Yuzuru's feet felt cemented into the ground as he tried to move. Finally freeing himself from his fear, he begins to gravitate towards her, reaching out his arm to tap her left shoulder, feeling as though she was moving further away as he walked forward. With every fiber of his spirit desiring nothing more than to grab her attention somehow, outside forces of the universe pull him back. His vision begins to whiten, knowing he's just needs to go forward just a few more steps. Suddenly, vision failing, white turns to black, his tunnel-vision collapses, and consciousness fades.

* * *

Lying against a corner in a center-lit room, where a small hanging lamp illuminates very dimly, Yuzuru awakens to the sound of his own voice. Staring at him from the other portion of the room, and shrouded in the darkness the dim lamp was unable to reach, stood another boy.

**"You're awake now, I see,"** his own voice calls out from the figure standing across from him. **"You're tired, that's okay. You don't have to talk or move. I'm not going to hurt you" **

Yuzuru looks up, unable to see the face of his captor.

Yuzuru: (Regaining strength) **"Who the hell are you?"**

**"I'm the creator of everything ****you are", **he responds to Yuzuru in a cryptic manner,** "In a way, I guess you could call me God"**

Yuzuru: (Trying to keep composure, attempts to stand. Attempts to make a joke towards his captor) **"I guess you don't know the people I've met that keep wanting to call themselves God. Get in line"**

**"Anyone who has any sort of leg-up or power in life and death will always say that they're God. Admittedly, it would be deserving, until someone else comes along to dethrone them to take such a title"** he replies, confusing Yuzuru.

Yuzuru: **"If you are truly God, then there is nothing else you can take from me that would hurt me any further"**

The figure gives off a lighthearted chuckle, **"I kind of like how you think that I want to cause you pain. I've suffered for a long time. I've spent years upon years trying to figure out how I could get back the very thing that was lost. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain that you also lost something very important to you, haven't you?"**

The ominous figure with Yuzuru's voice grows slightly closer, moving around the light, and his face still unable to be seen.

Yuzuru: **"What the hell do you know? You know absolutely nothing about me!"**

**"I beg to differ, Yuzuru Otonashi,"** he says ominously. Yuzuru backs up against the wall. Having felt the unfamiliar sensation of fear. **"I can tell you're a little nervous, perhaps scared. I know who you are, remember? I'm God"**

Yuzuru: **"What do you want from me? We're all immortal here! What could you possibly...-"**

The figure chuckles. Goosebumps begin forming on Yuzuru's arms, and the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand. He was backed into the corner as the dark figure began to draw himself closer to him. **"I want the same thing you, Yuzuru Otonashi"**

Yuzuru: (Sarcastic) **"You know my name. Good for you. If you say it too much, you might wear it out"**

**"Angel it is, right?"** he says. Yuzuru is suddenly bombarded with fear, anger, sadness, and love all once. **"Kanade Tachibana was one of the people you were fairly close to, as well as Yuri Nakamura and Hideki Hinata,"** as he finished listing a few names of former friends, Yuzuru began to grit his teeth, fighting the sudden desire for his body to go limp and break down. **"I'm sorry for everything that you've gone though. Truly, I am. I'm not a cruel person. You don't need to worry about me hurting you"**

Yuzuru: (Angry) **"Then why are you bringing up irrelevant shit?" **

**"What is it that you desire most, Yuzuru?"**

Yuzuru: **"If you already have my life story, then why the hell should I need to tell you?"**

**"Curses. You saw right through my plan,"** he jokes sarcastically with Yuzuru, who glared at the figure who seemed to have the same voice as him.

Yuzuru: **"How do you know all of this?"**

The dark figure slowly begins to walk closer to Yuzuru. Yuzuru tries backing up, feeling as though he wanted to just melt into the wall to get away from this man. All he could feel was fear. He slides slowly back, until he finally was in a corner, hands feeling the cold walls behind him, with nowhere to go. The figure of the man moves even closer, within an arms reach. **"Wanna know how I know everything?"**

Yuzuru: (Yelling) **"Who the hell are you?!"**

With the loudest racketing of vocals the figure could muster, he belts out loudly two words, as he finally revealed his true face to Yuzuru, **"I'M YOU!"** Yuzuru screamed in fear, as the figure's face came within clear view, and as though he were looking into a mirror in the dark, his own face appears before his very eyes, smiling evily, and Yuzuru's vision, once again, fades to black.

* * *

Yuzuru's upper body jerked upward, screaming loudly in fear, pushing his arms forward as he awoke from his nightmare, sitting in a bed within a dark room. Yuzuru jumps to his feet, breathing heavily and sweating. His feet hit the carpeted floor and he backs up quickly, frightened, hitting his back on a hard object behind him, it thumps loudly against a wall, as contents atop what felt like a nightstand topple over. A light switch at the front of the room is turned on by another individual, and the room is suddenly illuminated. Yuzuru looks straight ahead. His heart skips, his body becomes numb, and years of heavy emotion suddenly lift from his body. Fear quickly begins to vacate his mind, as an overwhelming sense of confusion and emotion begin to engulf his hazed mind. Yuzuru falls to his knees, and his eyes grow and begin to shed tears, staring at the creator of his bliss and pain.

Yuzuru: (In absolute shock) **"I-I can't believe it..."**

As tears begin to quickly trail down his face, a dash is made towards Yuzuru by another individual in the same room. A shining white shroud suddenly skips across the short distance, tackling Yuzuru, whose back hits the nightstand in a painful bliss as a pair of short arms wrap around him. Yuzuru begins to weep, as the other individual grips tightly on Yuzurul. Her head rested on his chest, with the tips of her white hair touching the ground, both hold one another, as they both remain on their knees.

Yuzuru: (Weeping, still in absolute shock) **"I-... It's you... I can't... This is a dream... I-... Kanade..."**

She grips him tightly, her head pressing against his chest as though she were trying to merge with him.

Kanade: (Voice faltering) **"I'm sorry, Yuzuru..."** (Nearly weeping) **"I'm so sorry for everything"**

Kanade's voice falters heavily as she tries to form her words to Yuzuru, both as shocked as one another. Numbness spreads throughout Yuzuru's body, killing every strand of pain like a fast-spreading virus. He quickly grabs her by the shoulders, pushing her off slightly for a moment, just to prove to himself the moment was real. His tear-ridden eyes distorting his view, but is able to make out a pair of sad, yet happy, golden eyes. Kanade brings her right arm sleeve up to his face, wiping his tears onto the brown cuffs of her tan blazer. His vision normalizes, as he stares into her glowing and reddened face and glossed, golden eyes.

Kanade: (Smiling, while trying to keep composure, speaking softly) **"There, can you see better now?" **

Yuzuru: (Sniffling, halts his weeping, joking about her cuffs and her wrist) **"Hey, watch it, I don't know if those things might still be armed" **

Kanade smiles at the guard skill joke, and they embrace each other once more. Kanade places a hand on Yuzuru's chest.

Kanade: **"It's exactly as I remember. Your heart..."**

As they embrace one another, a heavy set of fast footsteps grow closer and louder from outside of the room. Suddenly, a loud and heavy slashing sound startles Yuzuru, holding Kanade even tighter. He watches the door, as it falls, slashed in four pieces. Noda suddenly yells out.

Noda: (Yelling) **"What's going on here?! Who screamed?!" **

Yuri and Hinata both follow behind Noda, wielding pistols, all barging into the room. Hinata and Yuri both stare at Yuzuru, both their mouths wide open in shock. Noda, distracted by his own bloodthirsty bout suddenly looks down and notices Yuzuru holding Kanade. **"OTONASHI!"** both Hinata and Yuri yell loudly. Hinata quickly jumps at Yuzuru, embracing him and Kanade. Yuzuru is overwhelmed in happiness and a lack of oxygen, from the tight squeezing from his old friend. Yuri stands at the doorway, crossing her arms and smiling. Noda watches, and then smiles at Yuzuru, lowering his halberd down from a readied stance.

Yuzuru: (Struggling to breathe) **"You're squeezing me. C-Can't... Breathe" **

Yuri: (To herself) **"You're finally home now"**

Noda: (Jokingly) **"I guess I'll pass on this orgy-fest. I'll kick your ass later, Otonashi" **

Noda leaves the room, smiling. Hinata continues to hold onto them tightly, ignoring Yuzuru's plead for air.

Hinata: (Hysterical, holding tightly onto both Yuzuru and Kanade) **"My buddy Otonashi is back! I can't believe it! We missed you so much!"**

Hinata stops for a moment, looking at both Yuzuru and Kanade, who were originally embracing one another before he, Yuri, and Noda interrupted their moment. He quickly stands, rubbing the back of his neck innocently, giving the couple some space.

Hinata: (Innocently) **"Oh, sorry about that! I guess I was just excited is all! It's not everyday that we get to be the welcome party for a friend that we haven't heard from in three years"**

Yuzuru: (Chuckles, wiping the remainder of his tears) **"I get it, no need to apologize" **

Yuzuru and Kanade stand up slowly. Yuzuru, still feeling weak, walks over to Hinata, bringing a palm up towards him.

Yuzuru: **"I'm home"**

Both Yuzuru and Hinata both high-five one another, following up with a hug.

Hinata: (Sad-tone) **"Dude, we missed you... We were all here, and we expected you to come through when we all met up in the city after passing. What the hell happened all these three years? Were you stuck or something?"**

They both let go of one another. Yuzuru guiltily looks back at Kanade, who also looks down in guilt. Yuri's smile turns into a less-enthusiastic straight-face, seeing the quick change of emotion between Yuzuru and Kanade, quickly remembering a sorrowful conversation she had with her.

_Oh crap!_ Yuri quickly exclaims in her own mind.

She quickly attempts to interject, fearing awkwardness. She walks towards Yuzuru, giving him a quick hug.

Yuri: (Interjecting quickly, giving Yuzuru a quick hug) **"Ah, who cares! We're glad you're finally here, Otonashi! Welcome home!"**

Yuri quickly lets go of Yuzuru and turns around, starting for the doorway. She turns once more towards them.

Yuri: (Smiling) **"I'm sure you're probably hungry. We've prepared something special for you"**

Yuzuru smiles and looks back at Kanade once more and smiles.

Hinata: **"I'm actually pretty hungry, too. I'm definitely down for some food!"**

Hinata follows Yuri out the door. Yuri talks as she walks down the hall with Hinata.

Yuri: **"Take as much time as you need. We'll be here when you're ready to eat"**

Yuri and Hinata leave sight of the doorway. Yuzuru sits on the bed, in disbelief to everything happening in the moment.

Yuzuru: **"I don't believe it..."**

Kanade takes notice to Yuzuru once more, sitting next to him and leaning towards him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Yuzuru: **"Three years, huh? That's how long I was gone?" **

Kanade stays silent, her arms resting on her own lap as she leaned on his shoulder while they sat.

Yuzuru: (To himself, still in disbelief) **"Three years..."**

Yuzuru pauses, trying to take everything in.

Kanade: **"Yuzuru..."**

Yuzuru gives Kanade his undivided attention.

Kanade: **"I don't know if I can ever come around to forgiving myself for what I did to you"**

Attempting to withhold the negative feelings he remembers the day she disappeared in his arms. He looks at her.

Yuzuru: (Tripping over his own words, playing dumb) **"Wh-What do you mean?"**

Kanade: **"I was selfish... I... All these few years of being here, I felt no different than what I endured being in the other world, I mean before meeting all of you"**

Yuzuru: (Attempting to cheer Kanade up) **"Hey, don't worry about it, you. What's done is done"**

Kanade: **"It's not fair"**

Though Kanade's voice was soft, her fists clenched on her lap. Yuzuru takes notice, putting one arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.

Yuzuru: **"It's just how it is... You were right"**

Kanade: **"I was right? About what?"**

Yuzuru thought about a conversation he had with Kanade those many years ago, while they were both imprisoned by Naoi.

Yuzuru: **"It wouldn't have worked... You said it yourself, I would have eventually disappeared if I ended up siding with you. It was probably just better this way. At least now we're all here"**

Kanade: **"Do you remember when Student Body President Naoi admitted of the lingering feelings he held before dying?"**

Yuzuru: **"I think so, why?"**

Kanade: **"He lived a carefree life as a child, while his brother was the protege to his father. When his brother passed away, Naoi said that he was the one who died. He was to fulfill the void that his brother left in his family, giving up his youth in order to become like his father. He was the one who died, because he was unable to live the life he once had before his brother passed away"**

Yuzuru: **"But you're not Naoi. Your situations are completely different!"**

Kanade: (Shaking head softly in disagreement) **"In the final moments prior to my departure, I had admitted to you that the weight that kept me from being able to pass on, was that I wanted to thank the boy who gave me the gift of life. As selfless as that may sound to you, it was also inconsiderate, knowing well the effects of what would occur afterwards"**

Yuzuru: **"I don't understand. What do you mean by inconsiderate?"**

Kanade: **"For a long time, I lingered in that world, trying to understand the meaning of my existence, watching others with heavy burdens that slowly lifted the longer they were around me. Because of my nature, I believed that I was a bringer of inner peace to others, thus allowing them to pass on. But I did not want to be resolved to such a life, as I began to grow lonely and distant to the other students"** (Looks down in self-pity) **"The only opportunity I ever had, in order to be able to pass on, was to give you my gratitude... But I knew that if I did so, I would have passed on, and you would likely have been unable, as the burden of love would have been too great"** (Pauses for a moment) **"I wanted to believe that I would be wrong, thinking that there would be a chance that you could also pass on...** (Pauses once more) **"My burden was never truly gone. I merely passed it on to you"**

Yuzuru looks down, sympathetic to Kanade's feelings.

Yuzuru: (Attempting to reassure her) **"I'm not going to pretend that I never got frustrated or angry. I fell into my own trap, thinking that us being together would actually work... As time went on, I began to realize that your purpose had been fulfilled. For you to remain there with me would have resulted in nothing different. One of us would have been obliterated eventually. But none of that really matters anymore"**

Kanade nods her head in agreement, though lacking the certainty of self-forgiveness. Both continue to sit on the edge of the bed; Otonashi keeps his arm around her shoulder, both leaning against one another, smiling.

Kanade: **"In time, I am sure that I will learn to forgive myself"**

Yuzuru takes his hand from around her shoulders and places them on his lap, twiddling his thumbs together.

Yuzuru: (Unsure, trying to speak carefully) **"So... We're both here now..."**

Kanade: **"Yes, it would appear that we are"**

Yuzuru grits his teeth for a moment, and his nerves begin to tingle.

Yuzuru: **"What now?"**

Kanade: (Trying to understand) **"What... now? I'm afraid I don't understand"**

Yuzuru: (Tripping over his own words, pretending to laugh as he spoke) **"W-Well... I mean... I-I admitted everything to you before you were obliterated..."**

Kanade: (Inept) **"You admitted your feelings, if my memory serves me correctly"**

Yuzuru: (Trying to stay calm and collected) **"Well... I umm... I guess... But I've passed on, and I'm here now!"**

Yuzuru chokes on his words, holding his breath and slamming his eyes shut, trying to muster his courage. Kanade looks up to him, confused of his current episode. He thinks to himself, trying hard to rid himself of suppressing thoughts. Kanade's expression goes back to normal, suddenly looking forward, closing her eyes halfway and smiling. Yuzuru catches his breath, wiping a drop of sweat on his right temple. Kanade stands and straightens her brown skirt and stands in front of Yuzuru. With care, she grabs his hand and pulls him up slowly. He stands as she begins to pull him towards the exposed doorway, stepping over the broken pieces of wood that used to be the door.

Kanade: **"We should eat"**

Yuzuru begins to feel warm as she held onto his hand, walking with her into the hallway.


	3. Family Reunion

Chapter 3: Family Reunion

23:34 PM - Class SSS HQ Kitchen

Hinata: (Frustrated, looking through the pantries and drawers in the kitchen) **"We have enough guns and ammo to form a drug cartel, but no kitchen knives?!"**

Yusa: (Monotonous) **"The guild is nearing completion, and our funds were getting somewhat low, so to save money, we've resorted to melting anything we could find that was metal and not essential to the mission"**

Hinata begins to show an over-exaggerated loss of temper.

Hinata: **"What?! So all our pots, pans, and knives are just gone?"**

Yui: **"More importantly, why has it taken us this long to complete the guild?"**

Takamatsu: **"You do understand the size of such a project, right?"**

Yusa shrugs her shoulders.

Among Hinata's and Yusa's short exchange, the rest of the core members spoke with one another, mostly directing questions towards their newly-returned friend, Yuzuru.

Iwasawa: (To Yuzuru) **"Bet it feels good to be here, doesn't it?"**

Yuzuru: (Rubbing back of neck in modesty) **"It's been... an interesting three years. I just never thought I'd see any of you guys again!"**

Naoi: **"I don't think anyone of us would have thought this was our final destination"**

Yuzuru: **"This is it then, huh? It almost feels redundant" **

Naoi: **"Throughout our time here, we've never seen anything strange. Everyone here just seems happy"**

Yuzuru: **"So no despair, no weird world-programming, or shadows? Nothing but bliss?"**

Yuri: (Smiling with determination) **"Don't get too comfortable with that thought! Kanade's powers are still active, and we've been able to replicate the Angel Player program, thanks to Takeyama, and we've even edited her skills, just like in the previous world. We've also spotted a few strange anomalies here"**

Naoi: (Scoffing) **"Oh boy, here we go with the conspiracies from our fearless leader"**

Yuri: (Snapping back at Naoi) **"Hey! You above all people should know that nothing has ever come easy with us! There has to be a link between this world and the last, so I'm not taking any chances!" **

Naoi: **"Why is it so hard to believe that both worlds might just have similar physics without the weird shadows?! The people who inhabit this world aren't NPCs like in the old world, so why should we worry about them turning into things that would try to kill us?!" **

Kanade walks between Yuri and Naoi, interrupting the argument. She bends her arm at the elbow and suspending her wrist upward.

Kanade: (Distorted voice) **"Guard Skill, Hand Sonic"**

Our of thin air, extending from within the brown cuffs of her tan blazer, a translucent blade quickly forms digitally, as polygons build into it and shed from the blade as it quickly builds itself from nothing. Kanade takes one step towards the white-frosted cake. She lowers her hand down, carefully making the first cut. She raised and then lowered her blade multiple times, cutting the cake into even slices. As she finishes, she backs away, still holding her Hand Sonic up, nonchalantly, with crumbs and frosting sticking along it. Her Hand Sonic suddenly begins to materialize into nothing, as polygons begin to quickly evaporate into oblivion and her blade disappears, and the crumbs and frosting that coated the blade fall onto the ground.

Hinata looks at Kanade with a strange stare.

Hinata: (Sneering) **"I still don't think those things are THAT cool..."**

Yuzuru: (Smiling) **"You should see the other versions of those things she has"**

Takeyama calmly walks into the kitchen, holding his laptop between his arm and body.

Takeyama: **"Hey, fearless leader"**

Yuri: **"What is it?"**

Takeyama: **"It's regarding what we talked about yesterday"**

Yuri stands and makes her way down the hallway with Takeyama, leaving the rest of the team slightly confused.

Hinata: (Slightly concerned) **"You think it's about the shadow things?"**

Yuzuru: **"Excuse me? Shadow things? As in... those things we fought?"**

Naoi: **"Don't be silly! Like I said, we probably don't have anything to worry about here!"**

Yui: **"Probably?"**

Naoi: (Frustrated at Yui) **"Stop egging it on" **

Takeyama holds open his laptop in front of Yuri, while both stood in the hallway. Yuri looks at the monitor, covering her chin with her left hand, showing some concern. Surveillance footage is shown in spotty quality, at first showing a grassy field, followed by some distortion in the footage.

Takeyama: **"I've been monitoring some of the footage on and off the past couple of hours, and noticed this"**

He pauses the video over and over, attempting to freeze the video at a particular time. Finally, after pausing one last time, he stops and points.

Takeyama: **"There. Do you see it?"**

Yuri's eyes grow slightly, showing more concern.

Yuri: **"When was this footage taken?"**

Takeyama: **"About thirty minutes ago"**

Yuri: **"And it didn't activate the sensors?"**

Takeyama: **"That is... correct, unfortunately. This was taken about a thousand kilometers away this time"**

Yuri: **"Why all of a sudden would our tech not be able to capture them?"** (Thinks for a moment) **"Do we have any standby engineers from The Guild?"**

Takeyama: (Checks computer for a moment) **"We don't have any standby units, but if you'd like-"**

Yuri: (Interrupts) **"Get a hold of Chaa. Have him assemble a team of engineers from The Guild as well as some fighters to make sure all observatories in the direction of those shadows are secure between here and about 200 kilometers, and to have our engineers modify them to make them to detect any sudden infrared and low-light changes"**

Takeyama: **"I can do that, but... Can I first ask you of a small favor?"**

Yuri: **"What's that?"**

Takeyama: (Closes computer, and pushes glasses up) **"Can you please call me Chri-..."**

Before Takeyama could finish his statement, Yuri looks down at her phone and walks back over to her other friends, who were all still talking about Otonashi's miraculous return. Takeyama sighs, and walks back into the hallway towards his room to contact the aforementioned Class SSS delegate.

Hinata notices Yuri on return to the kitchen. They all laugh at a joke at the expense of Otonashi's embarrassingly-reddened face.

Hinata: **"What's up with Takeyama?"**

Yuri: (Nonchalant) **"Ah, it's nothing right now. Just another anomaly is all"**

The chatter slows to a few murmurs.

Yuri: **"Nothing serious though. Same things we've been seeing for the past few days is all"**

Otonashi looks down and gives a lighthearted smile.

Yuzuru: **"Well, as long as it's not one of those weird shadow creatures"**

Yuri: (Confident) **"Don't worry, you're in good company, and with you here, it ensures the victory of any future conflicts!"**

Naoi: (Muttering under his breath) **"As if anything would ever happen here..."**

Iwasawa: **"Hey, just as an F-Y-I, since you're back, we're playing late a show out in the city. You're more than welcome to join us, for old times' sake! Hisako and the other girls are packing up the rest of the equipment, so if you're down to show your support, feel free to come with!"**

Yuzuru:** "To be honest, I just want to have a few days of peace, to make new memories with an old friend"**

Iwasawa: **"Ah, gotcha, no worries! But if you change your mind, Yuri knows where we're at!"**

Everyone smiles at the warmhearted comment. Kanade places her hand over Otonashi's right shoulder. They smile at one another.

* * *

_Takeyama's Room_

In front of a lit monitor, Takeyama sat at his desk, talking to someone on his laptop.

Takeyama: **"Are there any messages you'd like me to relay to Yurippe?"**

The individual online replies, **"No, nothing that I can think of right now. I'll assemble a team quickly to investigate. Expect word of their departure in about 20 minutes"**

Takeyama: **"Thank you, I will let her know the status of the mission. Takeyama out"**

Takeyama ends the video call with the commanding officer Yuri told him to contact. He sits back in his seat to think to himself for a moment. Takeyama presses a button on his wristwatch. A collection of monitors along the wall behind his laptop and desk light up, showing live surveillance that cycled to different locations along the world. Realizing the potentially severity of this newfound stealth these anomalies possess, he watches closely at each of the monitors, in search of any potential activity. With an uneasy mind, he goes into his desk and grabs a small container of caffeine pills, and takes a few, knowing that he would likely be monitoring for a while.

* * *

_Moments later..._

Outside of the Afterlife Warfront HQ, four up-armored Humvees (American HMWWV's) and a bus full of armed, non-core members of Class SSS depart, beginning their mission to the observatory positions Yuri asked to be checked and upgraded. Yuri looks out the window, noticing the lights of the vehicles blaring through the window blinds. She walks over and opens the blinds, noticing that a team was leaving, obeying the orders she had placed. Takeyama walks into the kitchen past the other members, who were staring at the window curiously.

Hinata: **"What's going on out there?"**

Yuri: **"Nothing. I had Takeyama talk to Chaa to assemble a team to check out the observatories"**

Takeyama goes into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

Yuri: **"Takeyama"**

Takeyama: (Takes a sip of water from the bottle and then replies) **"Yes?"**

Yuri: (Counts vehicles) **"How many people did Chaa send out?"**

Takeyama: **"Four armored vehicles and a bus full of fighters and engineers"**

Yuri: (Concerned) **"How many people though?"**

Takeyama: **"Forty total on the bus, twenty combined with all four of the armored vehicles"**

Yuri facepalms with a loud smack on her forehead.

Yuri: **"You idiot! Why the hell would you send sixty people?"**

Takeyama: **"What do you mean? That's the team Chaa assembled for the mission you asked for"**

Yuri: **"Sixty people?! Who else besides us is left defending this building if sixty of our people are gone?!"**

Naoi: **"Jeez, chill out, Yurippe! We're fine..."**

Yuri: **"That's not the p-..."** (Gives up on argument) **"Ugh, fine..."**

Hinata: **"Nothing's gonna happen on our watch. We've been fine so far, right?"** (Points at Angel)** "After all, we have the most powerful weapon here with us now!"**

Yuri sighs, starting down the hallway in frustration.

Yuzuru: **"What's her deal?"**

Kanade: **"She fears for everyone here. I believe recent events involving those anomalies have opened up her previous and natural hyper-vigilant nature once again"**

Yuri continues along the dimly-lit hallway, towards her office, thinking to herself.

_Maybe Naoi is right. Am I really this unreasonable?_

Yuri crosses her arms uncomfortably as she walks slowly down the hall, questioning herself, remembering the years of combat experience she obtained while being stuck in the afterlife school. Glimpses of her fighting Angel, the NPC shadows, Naoi's rise to power, and the constant storming between her subordinates.

Otonashi: (To Hinata) **"So, what's different here, I mean in this world?"**

Hinata: **"More than you think, actually... It's paradise, dude! No NPCs, no combat, no worries! Most of us actually ended up taking up jobs around the city" **

Otonashi: **"What?! That's awesome! Does everyone live here in HQ?"**

Hinata: **"Of course! Why wouldn't we? This city has been growing quite a bit, so when we all kind of got here at the same time, Yuri appealed to the Mayor, and he asked us if we could provide some type of protection to the city, like a police force! Isn't that neat?! He seems to really like our presence" **

Fujimaki: (Under his breath) **"We're more like over-glorified mall cops, if you ask me. Not shit happens here"**

Hinata: **"Yuri is a city council member as the Necropolis Protection Secretary, Yui is a recruiter for Class SSS, and Iwasawa still leads GlDeMo as a popular band that's been climbing the charts for a while now!"**

Otonashi: (Surprised) **"I'm impressed! You guys have made quite the impression, huh?"**

Hinata: **"Fujimaki, Ooyama, Ooyama, and Noda all took positions as instructors for the police department in the city, too!"**

Fujimaki: **"Hell yeah! We teach 'em how to kick ass!"**

Otonashi: **"Wait, then if there's already a police department here, why are we still called The Afterlife War Front?"**

Fujimaki: **"Because on the off-chance shit kicks off for real, we're here to kick some serious ass, not arrest someone for stealing candy"**

Kanade: **"We are primarily here as an unconventional force to fight anything that would pose a higher threat that city law enforcement would normally be unable to quell"**

Otonashi: **"So, we're basically leading an army?"**

Hinata: **"Sort of... Just without the fancy uniforms and camouflage... We're not as big as a standing army, but we're quickly growing. The city is becoming heavily populated these days, so with expansion, Yuri and Chaa had to reorganize a lot. The Guild is now broken up into two different divisions: The Engineering Corps and the Fighting Corps. Then obviously you have the core members, like us, who are usually tasked for special missions"**

Fujimaki: (Sarcastic) **"_Special_"** (Cough Cough)

Otonashi: **"Seems like you guys have been pretty busy with restructuring more than fighting then"**

Matsushita5: **"It's been pretty boring with nothing going on, but I guess that just means us and the police are doing our jobs right, making sure everything is in order"**

Otonashi: **"So why is Naoi so stuck on keeping things calm and not so uptight?"**

Hinata: **"He just wants Yuri to calm down is all. She's been uptight since we got here... She's been even more uptight since we got word of those things Takeyama caught on our observatory cameras"**

Otonashi lets out an audible 'hmm'.

Hinata quickly grabs a piece of cake with his bare hands from the table and kicks his feet up next to the cake. Fujimaki and Ooyama flail in shock, almost disgusted by the sight of Hinata's shoes next to the dessert. Hinata looks closely at Hinata's left hand, in full view of a silver-colored ring on his ring finger.

Otonashi: (Shocked) **"What is that on your finger?! Are you...?!"**

After shoving a large portion of the cake into his own mouth, Hinata looks down at his hand while munching on cake, noticing that Otonashi was referring to his wedding band.

Hinata: (Quickly swallowing his food) **"Oh, yeah! I'm married now"**

Otonashi: (Surprised) **"You can do that here?!"**

Hinata: **"Sure, why not? Figured she was a pretty good snag, so why not?"** (Making macho pose)

Quickly, a piece of cake launches towards Hinata, smacking him in the face, knocking him off his chair.

Hinata: (Quickly getting up to his feet and yelling at Yui) **"Hey, what was that for?! That was supposed to be a compliment!"**

Yui: **"How was that a compliment, you pig?!"** (Attempting to be humorously poetic) **"You told me I was a beautiful cherry blossom that had just bloomed in the Spring, and that your love for me burns like the showering of molten rocks in the time of the early Precambrian era"**

Ooyama: **"Wait, do you even know what those words mean?" **

Hinata embarrassingly grabs Yui, covering her mouth, but not before catching the quick sound of laughter coming from Fujimaki and Matsushita the Fifth.

Hinata: (Still covering Yui's mouth as she struggled to get out of his grip) **"That was supposed to be between the two of us, you!"**

Fujimaki: **"Maybe you two should get a room and talk more about how much you're both blossoming and flowering like a true married couple"**

Otonashi: (Thinking to himself) **"Blossoming... Flowering? What kind of joke is that?"**

Ooyama's face suddenly turns red, realizing the underlying sexual innuendo.

Ooyama: (Embarrassed) **"I gotta go..."**

He quickly gets up to leave, running into the hallway, and back to his room. Otonashi thinks about it and suddenly realizes the joke, chuckling as his face turns a light shade of pink. Kanade looks over at him, cocking her head to the left, not realizing what they were referring to.

Kanade: **"I don't understand"**

Otonashi: (Smile disappearing immediately and voice cracking) **"It's fine, don't worry about it!"**

Fujimaki laughs, quickly leaning towards Kanade's ear and whispering to her. Otonashi tries stopping him from tainting her mind. As Fujimaki whispers, he places his foot out at Otonashi's stomach, evily telling the joke. Kanade's facial expression doesn't change. Otonashi heard the words "flower" and "when two people love each other" from Fujimaki. He begins to panic, climbing over Fujimaki's leg and tackling him out of his chair.

Otonashi: **"You asshole! She doesn't need to know all of that!"**

Yui is finally let go of Hinata's hand, as Hinata joins in on the laughter with Fujimaki. Yui kicks Hinata in the back, who continued to laugh as he ignored the pain.

Kanade: (Calm and unfazed) **"Why would a joke that would have elements of sex be something to worry you about me?"**

Everyone stops immediately, shocked by Kanade's reply. Otonashi's face suddenly turns a darker shade of red.

Kanade: (Calm and nonchalant) **"I've been in this world for three years with everyone here. I've heard more jokes about this subject than I'd like to admit. You have such a dirty mind and should be ashamed"**

Hinata crosses his arms in a humorous display of shame as many attempt to withhold their laughter.

Hinata: (Trying to deflect the conversation) **"Whatever. I'm going to go see GlDeMo anyways!"**

Yui: (Frantic) **"Oh crap! I need to go get ready, too!" **


	4. A Memorable Night

_01:30 AM - Afterlife Warfront HQ - Common Room_

Otonashi sat down on the sofa, his sleeves rolled up, his arms spread out, resting his head back and closing his eyes, smiling. Kanade sits next to him, leaving a foot of space in-between them, and the back of her head grazing his left arm. Otonashi takes quick notice, almost becoming startled. A feeling of warmth swarms throughout his body. All other members are in their rooms, getting ready for sleep.

Kanade: **"Yuri has asked me to stay alert for the night. She is worried about the anomalies that seem to be traveling in our direction"**

Otonashi calms himself, realizing his heart was pounding with Kanade sitting next to him so closely.

_"Oh God,"_ Yuzuru thinks to himself, _"Do I move my arm?! She's resting her head against it like she doesn't even realize it's there! Is it awkward that she's resting on it?! Is it awkward if I don't move it?!"_ He tries calming himself, attempting to keep casual conversation going.

Otonashi: (Almost nervously) **"I slept quite a lot! I can stay the night with you!" **

He cringes at his own words, _"WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY?! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!"_

Kanade: **"That's very kind of you, Yuzuru"**

Kanade keeps a monotonous and nonchalant tone, calming Yuzuru down.

Otonashi: (Trying to stay calm) **"Oh, it's no problem. It's been a while anyways. It'd be cool if... well, you know... if I could catch up with you"**

Kanade: **"Catch up?"**

Otonashi looks up, resting his head back once more, almost forgetting that his arm was still around the back of Kanade's head.

Otonashi: **"You know, like catching up with an old friend. Making up for lost time!"**

Kanade: **"Oh, okay"** (Thinks for a moment) **"But didn't we already talk about that earlier?"**

Otonashi: (Looks at Kanade) **"Oh, no, I mean something a little less intimate"**

_"Why did I just say intimate?" _

Kanade: **"Intimate...?"**

Otonashi: (Nervously) **"Oh, don't worry about it"**

Kanade: **"Are you uncomfortable?"**

Otonashi panics.

Otonashi: (Nervous) **"No! I'm comfortable! I'm so comfortable right now! I feel great!"**

Kanade: **"Yuzuru..."**

He stops, taking his arm from around her, putting his hands together, looking at her with undivided attention.

Otonashi: **"Yes?"**

She looks at him with a determined and calming glare, demanding an answer for a question she hasn't asked yet.

Kanade: (Slight emotion) **"I want the truth. Why would you forgive someone for doing something so awful to you?"**

Otonashi's mouth opens slightly. He attempts to gather his thoughts to answer her question.

Otonashi: (Solemn) **"It's not that easy... I can't just dislike or hate someone for...-"**

Kanade: (Interrupting) **"I didn't say hate; I asked why you would forgive"**

Otonashi: **"I don't understand what you..."**

Kanade: **"Is it too complicated of a question?"**

Otonashi: (Leaning forward; confused) **"Where is all of this coming from? I thought we already discussed all of this"**

Kanade: **"But I don't want a roundabout and unsure answer. I want the truth"**

Otonashi: **"It's not that easy. I can't just give you something that puts everything in just some small summary. I've only been here for like a day, and I've only had my memories for like three hours...-"**

She stands up, facing him, interrupting him with her sudden movement. Her arms held stiffly by her sides, her gaze remaining the same, however coldly, demanding an answer. Otonashi tries answering, but trips over small bouts of unintelligible words. He stares at her, noticing her brows beginning furrow.

Kanade: (Demanding) **"I need an answer, please, Yuzuru! Everything I've experienced since I've been in this world has felt so empty because of my everlasting guilt that's continued to grow. Even now, with you sitting right in front of me, my thoughts have remained restless and without relief. I need to understand why"**

Otonashi: (Solemn) **"Y-You... still can't even forgive yourself, even after I've reassured you that everything is normal now?" **

Walking along the corridor in her pajamas, Yuri walks towards the kitchen and common room. She stops, hearing the chatter between Otonashi and Kanade, catching the escalation of Kanade's voice, growing slightly concerned. She plants her back against the wall that was adjacent to the common room and kitchen to eavesdrop.

Yuri: (Whispering to herself quietly) **"What in the world? I haven't heard her this heated since I've known her..."**

Kanade continues staring at Otonashi, still demanding an answer from him.

Kanade: (Raising her voice) **"Yuzuru!"**

Otonashi suddenly becomes frustrated. Feelings of love, anger, and sorrow begin to boil together in his mind.

Kanade: **"You can't just tell me you forgive me, as though what I've done was nothing but losing contact with an acquaintance. You gave me everything I could have ever wanted literally in life and death, and I took advantage of you by using it as my opportunity for an escape!"**

Yuri's eyes widen and her hands seem to involuntarily cover her mouth in shock.

Yuri: (Whispering to herself; shocked) **"In life?! What is she talking about?"**

They continue to go back and forth.

Otonashi: **"Don't you think you're being a little unreasonable to yourself? When I knew I was going to die, I wanted to make sure my life would give more meaning, since I wouldn't have been able to otherwise! How can you tell me that you took advantage of me, in life and death, when I would do it all over again, if it meant you being happy and realizing that you have meaning?"**

Kanade: (Emotional, almost saddened; frustrated) **"But this goes beyond your own intent"**

Otonashi: **"You're not making any sense! All of this would have been my intent! We both admitted that we knew what the situation was, despite me not coming to terms with it in the time you disappeared!"**

Kanade: **"But..." **

Otonashi: (Trying to suppress his frustration) **"It's not that easy, Kanade! Of course I was pissed! I was sad, regretful, and I wished for those three long years that I could die forever!"** (Raising his voice)** "The thought of being stuck in a world after being denied of something I was so close to obtaining! Why should you be the one to interrogate me, when I'm the one who has been the one trying not to completely lose my damn mind?!"**

Kanade begins to lose tension in her stance and her stare quickly turns into guilt, directing her eyes downward.

Otonashi: **"You're not questioning me because I'm so easily willing to forgive you! You're questioning me because you can't come up with a rational solution on how you can drop the burden you gave yourself! Is my forgiveness making this worse for you?"**

Kanade: (Slightly annoyed) **"Because nothing you've said has...-"**

Otonashi: (Interrupts) **"Because nothing I say is going to change anything you think at this point! You want me to come up with some random answer in hopes that you'd be able to grasp at straws to figure out your own emotions"**

Kanade: **"I'm well aware of my emotions-..."**

Otonashi: (Interrupts) **"That's not true though"**

Kanade stops. The room grows silent. Yuri continues eavesdropping, silently holding her breath.

Otonashi: **"How can you tell me that you're aware of your own emotions, when you, 'THE' Angel... 'THE' Kanade Tachibana... 'THE' one person who's always been with such a fair temperament, is losing her mind? Is this even you? Am I even talking to Kanade?! You're the most level-headed and understanding person I've ever met, but it feels like you're internalizing this issue, and can't comprehend how to express it, taking it out on me, because I'm the only one you believe would be able to forgive you! Am I not supposed to forgive you?"**

Kanade is silent for a moment, opening her mouth for a moment to figure out the words to respond. The tension seems to suddenly disappear from the room.

Kanade: (Solemn) **"I'm sorry for losing my temper. The awful things I've been feeling inside have been tearing my mind apart since I've been here... I've been given everything in my life and death, and have taken all of it for granted" **

Otonashi: **"If you still feel as though you're still taking everything for granted, how were you able to pass on?"**

Kanade realizes that Otonashi is right.

Otonashi: **"The fact that you were able to thank me for the giving you an extended life was obviously the very thing you needed in order to find inner peace. That doesn't sound to me like you were taking me for granted"**

Kanade: **"But what about me leaving you behind? Everything you've admitted to me... Didn't you truly feel any of that? Wasn't that the reason you were unable to meet us here after three years?"**

Otonashi: **"Of course everything I said to you was real! And maybe it was the reason for me having to linger for a few years, but why is...-"**

Otonashi finally understands the conundrum that swarmed in Kanade's mind.

Otonashi: (Calm) **"You're worried..."**

Kanade: **"I don't know what you mean" **

Otonashi: **"You're worried that I was able to pass on to this world because I no longer felt those lingering emotions..."**

Kanade looks up at Otonashi, silent, pleading to him with her gaze, wanting him to admit on her behalf what she truly feels. Otonashi stands again, staring into her eyes as his own began to shake. His legs become weakened, almost buckling at a comforting realization.

Otonashi: (Nervous; happy) **"You're worried that I'm no longer in love with you, because I somehow finally managed to pass on..."**

Kanade and Otonashi stare at one another. Their worries begin to melt away. Her eyes begin to water, and her face begins to turn a light shade of pink. Otonashi is speechless, with warmth from this sudden realization beginning to bring his mind at ease. They stare at one another.

Yuri clutches the lapel of her uniform, sighing softly in relief. She begins to turn towards the hallway, smiling to herself. The backlight emitting into the hallway from the computer in her room suddenly shuts off. She takes notice, and the ambient lighting from the kitchen and nearby streetlights suddenly flicker, before completely shutting off. Beams of light from outside ceased to shine through the window blinds, catching both Otonashi and Kanade off guard. Yuri stops in the middle of the hallway, looking back at the darkened living room and kitchen. She hears slight grumbling from Takeyama's room, in obviously protest to losing power; perhaps working on a project and losing connection to the Class SSS network.

Yuri quietly walks over to Takeyama's door, raising a loosened right fist to knock on the door, with an intent to ask him about the loss of power. As she begins pivoting her wrist to tap his door with the knuckle of her index finger, a whipping sound suddenly pierces the short moment of silence, followed by a loud crashing of a porcelain china upon the wall at the end of the hallway. Yuri yelps, falling on the ground, gripping her right wrist. Sounds of loud footsteps ran close, from the inside of Takeyama's room, a pair from the living room, and multiple from other rooms within the hallway. Multiple doors open. Takeyama swings open his, but unable to see. As he runs out, he trips over Yuri as she was attempting to start to her knees; Takeyama falls next to her.

Matsushita5: **"What's going on out here!" **

From the darkness, a light shows after Kanade's voice utters a few short words. A blue blade materializes from her sleeves, giving some sight, revealing many core members of Class SSS in the hallway in the sleepwear, covering their eyes from the blinding, blue blade. Takeyama recovers to his knees, realizing he'd tripped over Yuri, who was gripping her right wrist, and that it began bleeding past through the grip of her left hand.

Shiina: **"What the hell happened to your hand?!"**

Yuri: (In obvious pain) **"My wrist! I think it's broken! Something hit it!" **

Takeyama quickly backs away, feeling squeamish at the site of the blood oozing from her wrist. Shiina runs over and kneels next to Yuri.

Otonashi: (Pointing at the shattered china at the end of the hall) **"Did someone throw that at you?!"**

Everyone in the hallway turns towards the shattered, porcelain china.

Kanade: **"It was not thrown. I heard it suddenly fly from the kitchen table. No one else was in the kitchen or living room, except for Yuzuru and myself"**

Yuri releases her grip, showing a gash from the point where the rim of the china likely smashed into her right wrist. She winces, gripping it once more to stop the bleeding. Shiina bends down, grabbing Yuri from behind her to lift her to her feet.

Shiina: **"Get up, quickly! We need to dress that wound!"**

Yuri: (Accepting Shiina's assistance, attempting to stand, while gripping her right wrist) **"Who hit me then! No one else is there!"**

Kanade turns and walks into the living room and kitchen area, motioning her blade at chest-height to shine a light throughout the area, in attempt to reveal any other individual, as multiple people tend to Yuri's wound. Yuri winces and grumbles at the sharp pain, seemingly unable to even move her right hand. Kanade walks throughout the room. Otonashi turns towards Kanade, but before walking towards her, Kanade turns towards the group.

Kanade: **"I don't see or sense any other unknown presence nearby. No one else is here, but us"**

Fujimaki: **"Noda and I will check throughout the rest of this place! Angel, can you check outside?"**

Kanade nods and starts for the front door. Otonashi follows along, realizing that Kanade's blades are still exposed, making her unable to open the door properly. He opens the door inward, allowing her to go first. Both step outside and stop on the front porch. Both look around, noticing the entire street is dark, hazy, and empty. The city is also seemingly dark. As they both slowly begin to step forward, Kanade's eyes grow in quick suspense, feeling a sudden disturbance within their space, as though someone had snuck quickly in-between them both. Otonashi is forced inside of the building. As he hits the entryway floor, the door slams shut in-between himself and Kanade. Otonashi quickly stands and grabs the door handle, turning and forcing the door open, almost hitting himself in the process. He looks outside, realizing that to his horror, Kanade had suddenly disappeared in a matter of a few seconds.

Naoi and Ooyama notice the sudden incident and dash towards the door in shock, following Otonashi onto the porch. Otonashi screams at the top of his lungs for Kanade, sweating and gripping his fists in anger and fear. All three look around, unable to see or hear any signs of anything. No footsteps, no voices; just haze covering the dark city. Everyone else stared outside at the three boys on the porch. Kanade had suddenly disappeared.


	5. The Calm After

01:36 AM - Building Entrance of Class SSS

Kanade quickly turns to the door, barely catching the view of Otonashi being forced into the doorway and watching the door slam shut. Kanade immediately jumps at the door, slashing it in half, and forcing herself through. Kanade looks around a dimly-lit room, with light from the street lamps beaming through the window blinds. The dim stove light is also on, and she looks towards the empty hallfway, with a computer monitor light shining from Yuri's room. She looks at the interior, which was devoid of her friends, whom were literally just a few seconds ago were occupying. Slightly worried, yet staying aware of her surroundings, she steps backwards out to the porch. As she turns, she looks around; tall buildings just a few blocks away with lights shining from each window, cars in the distance blaring their horns, random pedestrians walk along the sidewalks, and there seems to be no sign of the dark haze she had been in just moments ago.

Kanade: (To herself) **"Strange... Where has everyone gone? The lights have come back, too... What is happening?"**

Kanade is suddenly thrown to the ground. She quickly stands, looking all around at the same scenery, unable to see a single soul in her immediate area. She senses no one. She begins slashing around her, feeling as though it is an invisible entity who she understands had suddenly began tormenting her and her friends. As she stops to look around, she is struck once more in the stomach, giving a light yelp, but manages to stay on her feet. She suddenly crosses her blades above her head.

Kanade: (Slightly muffled by the pain of the strike to her stomach) **"Guard skill, howl-"**

... suddenly interrupted by another strike, this time to the back of her head. The incredibly harsh blow, jolts her head and neck forward violently. She lets out an almost choked gasp, and her eyes roll upward into her eye sockets, as she falls forward, hitting her knees, her blades pierce into the dirt as she falls, but suddenly pixelate into thin air, finally falling face-first onto the lawn, unconscious. Her white hair at the back of her head showing blood at the point of the blunt impact, which began lightly flowing onto her face and neck.

Kanade's body suddenly began moving on its own, her wrists and feet suddenly beginning to levitate, as though she is about to be hoisted upward. Her body in an upside-down arch, gravity pulling her body towards the ground as she's lifted from her hands and ankles from an invisible entity. Gunshots suddenly erupt nearby, striking the air with an impact that was behind Kanade's levitated feet. The impact gives sight to a floating, shadowy figure, which suddenly disappears into thin air as quickly as her feet dropped onto the grass. Another gunshot erupts from the street striking where another figure drops Kanade's hands; gravity forcing her unconscious arms and head to once more hit the yard. The second figure which was attempting to carry Kanade's arms suddenly forms into a shadow where the bullet impacted, and suddenly disappears.

Hinata: (Yelling loudly) **"Get the hell away from her!"**

From the street, Hinata runs towards Kanade, still holding up his .45 caliber pistol, scanning the area as he got close.

Yui: (Yelling at Hinata) **"Wait! Hideki, there might be more of them!"**

Random pedestrians and onlookers suddenly disperse. Yui, Yusa, and band members of Girls Dead Monster, all lugging band equipment, rush behind him, confused and worried. They stop just short of Kanade. They see the door slashed in half. The girls drop their musical equipment, rushing to Kanade. Hinata raises his gun at the broken door and slowly walks towards the dark interior of Class SSS.

Hinata: **"You guys check Angel! It looks like someone sliced the door in half!"**

Iwasawa: (Frantic) **"Where is everyone else?!"**

Yui: **"What in the world were those things?!"**

Hinata: **"We need to take Angel to a safe place. If she was taken down, who knows what happened to the others"**

As he begins to come to the door, Hinata is suddenly met with a large, familiar, bladed weapon, which slaps the gun out of his own hands with a loud slashing noise, followed by a hard kick to his chest. As Hinata is knocked backwards, he hears a voice call out from Noda. The lights from inside of the living room and parlor turn on behind Noda as he steps outside.

Noda: **"WHERE IS SHE?!"**

Hinata quickly regains is footing, realizing he was standing in front of his friend, as the pistol suddenly lands on the ground.

Hinata: (Yelling at Noda) **"You idiot! It's me!"**

Suddenly, Otonashi, Ooyama, and Naoi turn around, seeing all of the musical equipment and boxes dropped on the ground, with Yui, Yusa, and members of GlDeMo kneeling over Kanade. Stunned, they stare in confusion for a moment. Otonashi suddenly realizes Kanade is on the ground, unconscious, quickly running over to her. The girls make way for Otonashi. He kneels next to her, noticing a red spot on the back of her head where she was hit. He carefully turns her around, noticing that her face and neck have blood that was trailing from her wound. As he tries to lift her head, he notices a few popping sounds from her neck. He stops moving her completely, gasping.

Otonashi: (Yelling) **"She needs medical attention, right now!"**

Everyone else suddenly pours out of the building, Yuri following with her wrist wrapped in gauze and a makeshift, wooden splint, with her other hand covered in her own partially-dried blood. They all notice Kanade is unconscious. Yuri Suddenly runs, still holding her splinted wrist carefully, and kneels on the other side of Kanade, as Otonashi tried slowly and carefully putting Kanade's head back onto the ground, attempting to keep her neck straight.

Otonashi: (Frantic) **"The back of her head is bleeding! I think her neck is also broken!"**

Fujimaki: (Surprised) **"Holy shit! She must have taken a huge blow!"**

Yuri: **"The hit must have been so harsh, that it gave her something like whiplash!"**

Yusa: (Remaining calm)** "What exactly happened here?"**

Yuri: (Pointing to Takeyama, with authority) **"You! Get a hold of any Guild members that are still in the city, and tell them to get their asses here now! Tell them we're in Defensive Posture 4! Tell the security members to lock down all sensitive terminals and to get a medical team here, ASAP!"**

Takeyama nods and quickly runs into the now well-lit facility.

* * *

02:04 AM - Class SSS HQ Front Lawn

Otonashi and Guild members with a red cross emblem on their sleeves tend to Kanade, as she is lifted onto the back of an ambulance by a stretcher. Hinata, Otonashi, and a Guild medic pile on the back of the ambulance, closing the double-doors as they sat inside. Yuri climbs into the passenger's seat and closes the door. Other core members of Class SSS pile into a blue van. Both vehicles led and followed by armed Humvees. As they begin to drive off, Otonashi looks through the window of the rear doors, towards the Class SSS HQ. Guild members are seen repairing the door and applying metal sheeting on the windows. The two other vehicles proceeded the ambulance he was riding in. He looks out the front windshield, noticing that they were also following a heavily armed Humvee, with a machine gun turret manned by another member.

Otonashi: **"Where are they taking us?"**

Yuri: **"Top secret location. It's an area that no one in the city, not even the Mayor or Police Chief know about. Only ranking members of the Afterlife War Front, myself, and the Guild know. It's in an underground location just outside of Necropolis, about 5 kilometers from here. We've never declared Defensive Posture 4 before, but that's the highest the scale goes. It's when we hunker down completely and go invisible. The intent is to fall completely off the grid and recoup our forces, and with Kanade unable to fight... It has me worried about what we're up against"**

Guild Medic: **"Angel is giving an incredibly shallow pulse. I don't understand how. I don't think she even died. However, she'll regain consciousness likely within the week, but even then, she may be out of commission for longer, because of the nature of her injuries"**

The medic carefully wraps a neck-brace around Kanade's neck, lower head, and shoulders, keeping it straight.

Otonashi: **"A week?!"**

Yuri: **"It takes a lot longer to recover in this world, compared to that school"**

Guild Medic: **"Her injuries were pretty severe... The blunt-force trauma jarred her head and neck so hard, that it possibly severed her spinal cord. Not only that, but the back of her skull even caved inward a little bit because of that hit, and caused many multiple fractures"**

Carefully, the medic begins to wipe off the dried blood trails on her face.

Otonashi: **"How the hell did this happen?!"**

Hinata: **"Chill, dude... We're all worried here. I saw it happen, and I still don't even know what to say"**

Otonashi: **"What do you mean?! What did you see?!"**

Hinata: (Hesitates) **"I-... I don't even know"**

Yuri: **"What do you mean you don't know? You're the one who apparently saved her from being kidnapped"**

Otonashi: **"Kidnapped?! By who?!"**

Hinata: **"I think... It may have been those things"**

Otonashi: **"The shadow creatures?"**

Yuri thinks for a moment.

Hinata: **"Yeah... GlDeMo, Yui, Yusa, and I were coming back from a short-notice, late-night show at a nearby bar. We saw Kanade swinging her blades at nothing. We figured she was just going crazy, but then we saw her getting hit, and we tried to run as fast as we could. We were too late. Those things were completely invisible though... I saw Angel about to be carried off. It was like two people were trying to grab her by her legs and arms to take her somewhere, so I just blindly shot at where I figured whoever was trying to take her would be standing"**

Otonashi: **"I was pushed back inside when I tried to check the front yard with Kanade... She was gone when I opened the front door. Not even a few seconds passed. No sound, nothing... To be honest, I didn't even hear you fire your gun, Hinata... Ooyama and Naoi also said they didn't even see or hear you guys either... When we turned around, we just saw you guys and Kanade, and everything outside looked completely normal" **

Yuri: (To Hinata) **"Yusa also said that when you shot them, you guys saw something"**

Hinata: **"Yeah... Wherever they were hit, I saw some weird smoke or something. They didn't look human at all. If anything, they just looked like the shadows we fought a long time ago at that school, but only for just a moment after they were hit"**

Otonashi began to worry. He reached over to Kanade's hand and grabbed it.

Otonashi: **"How's your hand, Yuri?" **

Yuri: **"It'll be fine. Kanade and I will probably have to take a few X-Rays when we get to the Level 4 location, just so we can figure out how severe our injuries are. I'm worried though that if my wrist is broken, I might not be able to fight, if it comes to that"**

Hinata: (Trying to look at the bright side) **"Look at you, trying to act all tough!"**

Yuri: (Unamused, somber, and speaking under her breath to herself) **"Yeah, well... I'd like to think that, too"**

Otonashi: **"If it's those shadows again, couldn't we just fight them like we did before? We were successful last time, because of you"**

Yuri: (Remembering how she got rid of the shadows in the previous world) **"It's... A little more complicated than that. I guess you could say that we had it a little easier last time"**

Otonashi: **"I guess that explains why we don't seem to joke around as much around here?"**

Hinata: **"Yuri and I were the only ones that seemed to feel like this day would come sooner or later. Everyone else seemed to enjoy this place more than us. You know a little about our lives already, so I guess it was easier for us to assume that we're somewhat jaded when things seem to just magically go in a positive direction"**

Otonashi: (Attempting to be humorous) **"Do you even know what jaded means?"**

Hinata: (Gives an empty chuckle and smile) **"Well, whatever the case... We were right"**

Otonashi looked down again, accepting the moment for what it was, and realizing how silly his attempt at humor was in the moment.

Otonashi: **"So all this time, you guys were on-edge... You guys never stopped working"**

Yuri: **"It's not like we hate it"**

Otonashi: **"Being hyper-vigilant twenty-four-seven? Isn't that stressful? Wouldn't you like to be care-free at some point?"**

Yuri: **"I can't speak for Hinata, but you act like this is something I'm suffering from"**

Otonashi: **"But...-"**

Yuri: **"It's not so bad. It gives us purpose... A reason to be here. There are times where I hate being so paranoid, because I look back at all the times I missed an opportunity to have fun here. But at the same time, I wouldn't trade any of it, because I still enjoyed every minute of being around the people here..."**

Hinata: (Smiles) **"Well, if it's any consolation, how do you think this event woulda panned out, if we didn't have resources like this, or different defensive postures?"**

Otonashi: (Smiles) **"I guess you're right. Somebody had to take the brunt of the stress"**

Yuri: **"We'll pull through"**

Otonashi Looks at Kanade and holds her hand tighter.

* * *

Note to the reader:

Hello,

To those who have seen my previous revisions of this story, I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart. Each time I reread my previous stories, I sort of feel as though something is missing, and I feel as though my inexperience and notes bring me to a point where I have no idea what I'm doing, and it usually just sort of fizzles out. I wanted to start new, because I figure the new frame of the story would be perfect and sensible, through the notes I've written down over the years. It has been a while, I know, but I'm hoping you guys could leave some feedback that might help critique the story and my writing. I'm still only an amateur, even though I've been on here for years, but I enjoy the writing a lot. Thank you guys for sticking by me. I hope you all enjoy the story!


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